Everybody loves kisses. A
tender peck or a passionate kiss. Smooch for a friend, or a long lingering sign
of love for that one special someone. Kisses were also the inspiration for this
fun-filled cake, perfect for the upcoming spring celebrations. Bake your own
kiss cake with inspiration from those most cherished people.

The chocolate kisses form the
heart of the cake. The flavours I chose were strawberry and vanilla because who
doesn’t like a flavour filled surprise. The kisses are wrapped around a smooth,
velvety chocolate and strawberry cheesecake. The base is a traditional crispy
biscuit base, flavoured with cocoa powder. The top is filled with a bunch of
fresh strawberries topped with a sugar paste glaze. The best surprise of the
cake are the kisses’ crunchy chocolate crusts and the mallow centres inside the
smooth cheesecake

The flavours are easy to
change to each taste by simply only choosing a different flavoured kisses. In
the chocolate cheesecake mixture, I used Lindt’s strawberry dark chocolate,
which is perfect for this cake for its matching flavours. The strawberry bits
in the chocolate bring their own twist to the mixture. The top of the cake can
be decorated in a bunch of unique and different ways. Take advantage of the
season’s best berries and fruits and to finish of the topping you can even use
edible flowers!

As I was writing this post
some sad news reached me involving one of the cake’s main ingredients. Börje
Brunberg brought the idea of the chocolate kisses to Finland from Europe in
1951. Unfortunately, he passed away in mid-June this year at the age of 92. So
let this recipe be my homage to this innovative confectioner from a former
confectionary factory worker.

KULINAARI’S KISS CAKE (roughly
12 pieces)

Biscuit base:

12 chocolate kisses (vanilla
and strawberry flavoured)

200 g Digestive biscuits
crushed

70 g melted butter

1 tbls cocoa powder

Chocolate cheesecake mixture:

100 g dark chocolate

5 g gelatine sheets

2 dl whipped cream

200 g unflavoured cream cheese

100 g Turkish yoghurt

2 tbls sugar

2 tbls hot water

Strawberry cheesecake mixture:

150 g unflavored cream cheese

250 g fresh strawberries
mashed

1 tbls sugar

3 g gelatine sheets

1,5 tables hot water

Topping:

About 400g fresh strawberries
sliced

1 dl caster sugar

2 dl water

23 cm cake tin, baking paper

Cover the base of the cake tin
and the sides with separately cut baking paper. The paper will stick better if
you slightly grease the sides of the tin. The baking paper should come out of
the top of the tin about 3 cm because the cake might become taller than the
tin.

Mix the cocoa powder and the
melted butter into the crushed biscuits. Compress the biscuit mixture to an
even layer to the bottom of the tin. Put the kisses on top of the biscuit base
— choose your own flavour combinations according to your own taste. Put the tin
in the fridge to cool down.

Put the gelatine sheets into
some cold water. Melt the chocolate on top of a water bath. Mix the chocolate
into the cream cheese and then add the yogurt and sugar

Press the excess water off the
gelatine sheets and dissolve them into hot water. Pour the gelatine mixture
into the chocolate cheesecake mixture as a thin string mixing it while pouring.
Add the whipped cream and mix to a nice even consistency.

Take the tin out of the fridge
and pour the chocolate cheesecake mixture evenly on top of the kisses. Knock
the tin gently against a table a couple of times so that the air bubbles break
and the surface will become more even. Put the tin back into the fridge while
you make the strawberry cheesecake mixture.

For the strawberry mixture add
the cream cheese, mashed strawberries and the sugar and mix them to an even
consistency.

Dissolve the gelatine to hot
water and pour it in a thin string into the mixture constantly stirring.

Pour the strawberry cheesecake
mix on top of the chocolate mixture and put the tin in the fridge to set.
Preferably until the next day. Cover the cake with some cling film before
putting it into the fridge.

Decorate the top of the set
cake with sliced strawberries and finish it off with the glaze. The recipe of
the glaze can be found on the caster sugar packet. Let the glaze set in the
fridge for a while before serving. I know that the waiting is the most dreadful
part but this cake is worth the wait.

Slightly heated knife is
recommended for cutting the cake. This way the kisses inside cut more neatly.